David Forbes
@davidforbes.bsky.social
Anarchic history, queer defiance, cooking and — of course — fighting city hall.
@avlblade.bsky.social, @transnews.network Writer/journalist/editor. Eldritch trans dyke. She/They🏴🚩
Writing at:
patreon.com/DavidForbes
ashevilleblade.com
@avlblade.bsky.social, @transnews.network Writer/journalist/editor. Eldritch trans dyke. She/They🏴🚩
Writing at:
patreon.com/DavidForbes
ashevilleblade.com
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David Forbes
@davidforbes.bsky.social
· Feb 4
We do not have the luxury of surrender | David Forbes
Get more from David Forbes on Patreon
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Feeling fear is understandable. But we are responsible for our actions in the face of it.
We do not have the luxury of surrender www.patreon.com/posts/we-do-...
We do not have the luxury of surrender www.patreon.com/posts/we-do-...
Reposted by David Forbes
Always remember these two facts about fascists:
- They are never as strong as they pretend to be. You outnumber them, always.
- They are guaranteed to lose power eventually. The only question is what you and your friends can do to make that happen as soon as possible.
- They are never as strong as they pretend to be. You outnumber them, always.
- They are guaranteed to lose power eventually. The only question is what you and your friends can do to make that happen as soon as possible.
As more militant organizing in Minneapolis and elsewhere shows its strength we're going to see even more of this propaganda ("don't take the bait") show up to try to deter it, so this, by @thefreeradical.org, is worth keeping in mind.
As people mobilize around the country, beware of claims that a sanitized version of "nonviolence" — passive, compliant and non-disruptive — is the only option.
As @thefreeradical.org detailed in-depth, these myths are based on bad history and social science. They're meant to serve the status quo.
As @thefreeradical.org detailed in-depth, these myths are based on bad history and social science. They're meant to serve the status quo.
January 24, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Always remember these two facts about fascists:
- They are never as strong as they pretend to be. You outnumber them, always.
- They are guaranteed to lose power eventually. The only question is what you and your friends can do to make that happen as soon as possible.
- They are never as strong as they pretend to be. You outnumber them, always.
- They are guaranteed to lose power eventually. The only question is what you and your friends can do to make that happen as soon as possible.
Reposted by David Forbes
For years, the @nytimes.com has baffled journalism watchdogs with its anti-trans coverage--markedly different from typical centrist media coverage of trans people. A former Times editor traces an ideological change in coverage to the 2022 changing of the guard at the paper.
fair.org/home/an-insi...
fair.org/home/an-insi...
An Inside View of Why NYT’s Trans Coverage Has Been So Bad
A former New York Times editor affirms that the paper's fearmongering, pseudo-scientific, anti-trans coverage is a response to directives from the top.
fair.org
January 22, 2026 at 9:42 PM
For years, the @nytimes.com has baffled journalism watchdogs with its anti-trans coverage--markedly different from typical centrist media coverage of trans people. A former Times editor traces an ideological change in coverage to the 2022 changing of the guard at the paper.
fair.org/home/an-insi...
fair.org/home/an-insi...
Reposted by David Forbes
This is where we're at as the winter storm bears down on Asheville. Latest projections have it arriving around noon, with the worst freezing rain hitting this evening.
This amount of ice can do very real damage, so please take this seriously.
More info: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...
This amount of ice can do very real damage, so please take this seriously.
More info: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...
January 24, 2026 at 12:54 PM
This is where we're at as the winter storm bears down on Asheville. Latest projections have it arriving around noon, with the worst freezing rain hitting this evening.
This amount of ice can do very real damage, so please take this seriously.
More info: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...
This amount of ice can do very real damage, so please take this seriously.
More info: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...
Reposted by David Forbes
The impacts of the looming winter storm are becoming clearer, and it's a very real threat.
If you haven't already, check in on each other, finish getting supplies laid in and take precautions seriously. #avlnews
More info here: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...
If you haven't already, check in on each other, finish getting supplies laid in and take precautions seriously. #avlnews
More info here: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...
January 23, 2026 at 3:07 PM
The impacts of the looming winter storm are becoming clearer, and it's a very real threat.
If you haven't already, check in on each other, finish getting supplies laid in and take precautions seriously. #avlnews
More info here: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...
If you haven't already, check in on each other, finish getting supplies laid in and take precautions seriously. #avlnews
More info here: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...
Reposted by David Forbes
a few days ago this magazine story calling what Trump is doing “anarchy” was going around, ignoring a very different whole other thing in US political history called “anarchism”—and here is Minneapolis, illustrating what that can be so beautifully
I know people keep saying this but it’s hard to communicate the depth of active resistance here. Like, I’m on random cafes and people are checking in for observation shifts. Signs everywhere. Folks in visibility vests on the corners. It’s wild. Absolutely wild.
January 23, 2026 at 2:31 PM
a few days ago this magazine story calling what Trump is doing “anarchy” was going around, ignoring a very different whole other thing in US political history called “anarchism”—and here is Minneapolis, illustrating what that can be so beautifully
Reposted by David Forbes
Hard to convey how much you can tangibly feel the love and care for one another people are showing here in Minneapolis. Even in the few days we’ve been here more businesses have come on board with the strike and we've met people from every walk of like doing the work to keep each other safe.
January 23, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Hard to convey how much you can tangibly feel the love and care for one another people are showing here in Minneapolis. Even in the few days we’ve been here more businesses have come on board with the strike and we've met people from every walk of like doing the work to keep each other safe.
Reposted by David Forbes
Your local politicians too will fall in line in the face of a total social mobilization like the people of Minneapolis have achieved
Moreover, ICE must be destroyed
Moreover, ICE must be destroyed
Statement from the entire Minneapolis City Council in support of a General Strike and Day of Truth & Freedom on January 23rd.
January 23, 2026 at 2:08 AM
Your local politicians too will fall in line in the face of a total social mobilization like the people of Minneapolis have achieved
Moreover, ICE must be destroyed
Moreover, ICE must be destroyed
Reposted by David Forbes
As more militant organizing in Minneapolis and elsewhere shows its strength we're going to see even more of this propaganda ("don't take the bait") show up to try to deter it, so this, by @thefreeradical.org, is worth keeping in mind.
As people mobilize around the country, beware of claims that a sanitized version of "nonviolence" — passive, compliant and non-disruptive — is the only option.
As @thefreeradical.org detailed in-depth, these myths are based on bad history and social science. They're meant to serve the status quo.
As @thefreeradical.org detailed in-depth, these myths are based on bad history and social science. They're meant to serve the status quo.
Liberation is a Riot, Part 1: Debunking the Sanitized Nonviolence Myth
Based on shoddy research, bad history and outright lies, status quo propaganda portrays a sanitized version of ‘nonviolent’ protest as the only option, to damaging effect. It’s time to debunk it, and ...
transnews.network
January 22, 2026 at 3:12 PM
As more militant organizing in Minneapolis and elsewhere shows its strength we're going to see even more of this propaganda ("don't take the bait") show up to try to deter it, so this, by @thefreeradical.org, is worth keeping in mind.
Reposted by David Forbes
Reposted by David Forbes
The institutions are folding.
The elites are collaborating.
The people are fighting.
You want hope? It's that. You want to wake up to why we're here? Start there. You want to know why radicals refuse to give up? That's why.
There is a world elsewhere. 🏴
The elites are collaborating.
The people are fighting.
You want hope? It's that. You want to wake up to why we're here? Start there. You want to know why radicals refuse to give up? That's why.
There is a world elsewhere. 🏴
November 26, 2025 at 1:26 PM
The institutions are folding.
The elites are collaborating.
The people are fighting.
You want hope? It's that. You want to wake up to why we're here? Start there. You want to know why radicals refuse to give up? That's why.
There is a world elsewhere. 🏴
The elites are collaborating.
The people are fighting.
You want hope? It's that. You want to wake up to why we're here? Start there. You want to know why radicals refuse to give up? That's why.
There is a world elsewhere. 🏴
Reposted by David Forbes
If you'd like to support what we do, here's how: transnews.network/upgrade
transnews.network
January 21, 2026 at 4:58 PM
If you'd like to support what we do, here's how: transnews.network/upgrade
Reposted by David Forbes
Glad folks are also taking some inspiration, especially from this part.
Too often coverage of what trans people are up against turns into fearmongering. While we must be honest about what we face, people can and do fight back. Oppression is not invincible.
At TNN we always strive to remember that
Too often coverage of what trans people are up against turns into fearmongering. While we must be honest about what we face, people can and do fight back. Oppression is not invincible.
At TNN we always strive to remember that
January 21, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Glad folks are also taking some inspiration, especially from this part.
Too often coverage of what trans people are up against turns into fearmongering. While we must be honest about what we face, people can and do fight back. Oppression is not invincible.
At TNN we always strive to remember that
Too often coverage of what trans people are up against turns into fearmongering. While we must be honest about what we face, people can and do fight back. Oppression is not invincible.
At TNN we always strive to remember that
Reposted by David Forbes
It’s so important to understand that big tech today is anti-science.
Calling all the PhDs I know to make monumental annoyances of themselves (and honestly, who better)
January 21, 2026 at 11:01 PM
It’s so important to understand that big tech today is anti-science.
Reposted by David Forbes
This is a global far right power grab, so the sooner everybody realizes that and puts aside their deeply outdated notions around national identity, which got us here to begin with, the better. The only way out is through, but the only way through is all of us fighting these climate warlords together
January 21, 2026 at 6:29 PM
This is a global far right power grab, so the sooner everybody realizes that and puts aside their deeply outdated notions around national identity, which got us here to begin with, the better. The only way out is through, but the only way through is all of us fighting these climate warlords together
Berlin gangster: "I carry an arsenal of uniquely-shaped knives under my trenchcoat. I have trained my pets to devour my foes. My criminal conspiracy is registered with the state bureaucracy, naturally. To do otherwise would be unthinkable."
Gold: "...I have this one pistol but I don't miss."
Gold: "...I have this one pistol but I don't miss."
The contrast between the Berlin and American gangsters in Babylon Berlin is notable:
Berlin: "Faked deaths! An evil hypnotist! Baroque murders! Secret societies! '30s mad scientist meth!"
Abe Gold: "...I don't like this rich guy. I'm going to break into his house and put a gun to his head."
Berlin: "Faked deaths! An evil hypnotist! Baroque murders! Secret societies! '30s mad scientist meth!"
Abe Gold: "...I don't like this rich guy. I'm going to break into his house and put a gun to his head."
January 21, 2026 at 9:48 PM
Berlin gangster: "I carry an arsenal of uniquely-shaped knives under my trenchcoat. I have trained my pets to devour my foes. My criminal conspiracy is registered with the state bureaucracy, naturally. To do otherwise would be unthinkable."
Gold: "...I have this one pistol but I don't miss."
Gold: "...I have this one pistol but I don't miss."
Reposted by David Forbes
HB2 and the reaction to it are, too often, viewed as the marker of when things were better, of when anti-trans laws were widely opposed, even repealed.
But fighting it otg (I came out as trans the month it passed) the reality felt far more like a harbinger of things to come.
But fighting it otg (I came out as trans the month it passed) the reality felt far more like a harbinger of things to come.
January 21, 2026 at 2:35 PM
HB2 and the reaction to it are, too often, viewed as the marker of when things were better, of when anti-trans laws were widely opposed, even repealed.
But fighting it otg (I came out as trans the month it passed) the reality felt far more like a harbinger of things to come.
But fighting it otg (I came out as trans the month it passed) the reality felt far more like a harbinger of things to come.
Reposted by David Forbes
Wrote this for a lot of reasons, but a major one is that the fight over HB2 is widely misunderstood. The bill was also anti-queer, racist, anti-labor.
Dems helped pass it and provided vital support for the fake "repeal" that left it intact. Gay Inc orgs turned to shutting down activism against it.
Dems helped pass it and provided vital support for the fake "repeal" that left it intact. Gay Inc orgs turned to shutting down activism against it.
With anti-trans laws now in place in NC — where Dems did fairly well in the last election — it's worth reading @davidforbes.bsky.social's in-depth analysis from last year.
Dem betrayals of queer and trans people have a long history there, including with the infamous HB2. Don't trust politicians.
Dem betrayals of queer and trans people have a long history there, including with the infamous HB2. Don't trust politicians.
Opinion | Old Betrayals and New as N.C. Dems Pass Anti-Trans Laws
North Carolina Democrats had solid election results last year, amid promises to hold the line against the far-right. But two horrific anti-trans bills just became law thanks to Democratic support, wit...
transnews.network
January 21, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Wrote this for a lot of reasons, but a major one is that the fight over HB2 is widely misunderstood. The bill was also anti-queer, racist, anti-labor.
Dems helped pass it and provided vital support for the fake "repeal" that left it intact. Gay Inc orgs turned to shutting down activism against it.
Dems helped pass it and provided vital support for the fake "repeal" that left it intact. Gay Inc orgs turned to shutting down activism against it.
Reposted by David Forbes
The estrogen version of my Death Before Detransition design, available as a sticker via the link! Thank you to everyone who's gotten merch over the past year!
Death Before Detransition (E, sticker edition)
the estrogen version of the Death Before Detransition design as a sticker!
buff.ly
January 21, 2026 at 4:41 PM
The estrogen version of my Death Before Detransition design, available as a sticker via the link! Thank you to everyone who's gotten merch over the past year!
Reposted by David Forbes
(This is all New York Times headline writer brain. The only content of politics is un- quantifiable vibe shifts among some vague populace)
January 21, 2026 at 4:12 PM
(This is all New York Times headline writer brain. The only content of politics is un- quantifiable vibe shifts among some vague populace)
Reposted by David Forbes
Imagine thinking the bad thing about this situation is reputational rather than like A BREWING WAR BETWEEN THE USA AND EUROPE sorry that youre embarrassed by cheetoman but like FOCUS PEOPLE
January 21, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Imagine thinking the bad thing about this situation is reputational rather than like A BREWING WAR BETWEEN THE USA AND EUROPE sorry that youre embarrassed by cheetoman but like FOCUS PEOPLE
Reposted by David Forbes
Internationalism as it really exists is beyond, both beneath and above geopolitics and is about solidarity with liberation struggle and it too has always already been here and it refuses to analyze, identify or understand people by the nation-state that rules over the territory in which they live
January 21, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Internationalism as it really exists is beyond, both beneath and above geopolitics and is about solidarity with liberation struggle and it too has always already been here and it refuses to analyze, identify or understand people by the nation-state that rules over the territory in which they live
Reposted by David Forbes
Anyone who thinks European libs "suddenly now" hate the US is a fucking mark Europe has used USA as a foil to disavow their own European colonial history and racism for decades, European libs and even leftists insisted racism only exists in the US and that USians are *various phobic stereotypes*
January 21, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Anyone who thinks European libs "suddenly now" hate the US is a fucking mark Europe has used USA as a foil to disavow their own European colonial history and racism for decades, European libs and even leftists insisted racism only exists in the US and that USians are *various phobic stereotypes*
Reposted by David Forbes
just thinking about living in a community that is being polluted so that Grok can do psychological violence to millions of women
Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rules
Win for Memphis activists who say ‘Colossus’ facilities add extra pollution to already overburdened communities
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:33 PM
just thinking about living in a community that is being polluted so that Grok can do psychological violence to millions of women
The contrast between the Berlin and American gangsters in Babylon Berlin is notable:
Berlin: "Faked deaths! An evil hypnotist! Baroque murders! Secret societies! '30s mad scientist meth!"
Abe Gold: "...I don't like this rich guy. I'm going to break into his house and put a gun to his head."
Berlin: "Faked deaths! An evil hypnotist! Baroque murders! Secret societies! '30s mad scientist meth!"
Abe Gold: "...I don't like this rich guy. I'm going to break into his house and put a gun to his head."
January 21, 2026 at 4:06 PM
The contrast between the Berlin and American gangsters in Babylon Berlin is notable:
Berlin: "Faked deaths! An evil hypnotist! Baroque murders! Secret societies! '30s mad scientist meth!"
Abe Gold: "...I don't like this rich guy. I'm going to break into his house and put a gun to his head."
Berlin: "Faked deaths! An evil hypnotist! Baroque murders! Secret societies! '30s mad scientist meth!"
Abe Gold: "...I don't like this rich guy. I'm going to break into his house and put a gun to his head."
Reposted by David Forbes
I have been told that this undercover ICE agent tried to get observers to scan a QR code “for his website”. The QR code did not resolve to a link.
DO NOT SCAN UNKNOWN QR CODES FROM STRANGERS.
This is a massive security risk! Bad things can happen to you if you do it!
Stay frosty, friends.
DO NOT SCAN UNKNOWN QR CODES FROM STRANGERS.
This is a massive security risk! Bad things can happen to you if you do it!
Stay frosty, friends.
Every day some story breaks me some. Today it’s the guy who approached parents at a school patrol, told them he was with Indivisible, and asked about how the patrol system works. The parents gave vague answers, followed him back to his car — and of course it was ICE.
January 21, 2026 at 3:29 PM
I have been told that this undercover ICE agent tried to get observers to scan a QR code “for his website”. The QR code did not resolve to a link.
DO NOT SCAN UNKNOWN QR CODES FROM STRANGERS.
This is a massive security risk! Bad things can happen to you if you do it!
Stay frosty, friends.
DO NOT SCAN UNKNOWN QR CODES FROM STRANGERS.
This is a massive security risk! Bad things can happen to you if you do it!
Stay frosty, friends.